The Reason Why
by chocolafied
Summary: Esmeralda is trapped in Notre Dame with nowhere to go. And to makes things worse, the very man who trapped her there returns to "pray" at the church. Will she still hate him, even though he tells her why he did it? Pheephee x Esme


Esmeralda sighed as she leaned against a stone pillar in the church she was imprisoned in. _No way of getting out, huh?_ Her gaze turned from the floor to the stained glass that let in the light of the church. The sun must have come out; otherwise it would have been darker in here. Her finger tapped her other arm as she stood with her arms crossed, trying to think of a way out of this mess. The gypsy groaned and pushed herself off of the pillar. There was no way out. She was restless, and Frollo was right; "Gypsies don't do well behind stone walls".

Pacing the floor with bare feet, Esmeralda tried to keep calm; tried being the key word here. Though she was a strong and independent woman, she knew no one would probably help her. She was stuck, stranded in Notre Dame, _alone_. With a glance at the door, she saw the last few people leave the church to head home. _Home…_she might never see her's again. Her saddened emerald eyes turned to the floor once more with that thought torturing her before walking away mindlessly to one of the pillars once more.

The woman leaned against it, bending over somewhat and breathing a little bit harder than she had been a few moments ago. She couldn't cry; she wouldn't let herself be a wreck. She had to stay strong and try to get through this. Djali, who had been following her the entire time, looked sadly at his owner before looking down at the ground himself. He heard her move, so the goat looked up, seeing that she was heading for one of the pews.

Esmeralda sat down in the pew second from the front, flopping down on the wooden seat. Looking up with her emerald orbs, she looked up once more at the stained glass windows, as if they were her last hope. Djali jumped into her lap, only for her to hug him tightly. He remained silent as little droplets fell on him, wetting his hair. The doors to the church opened quietly, and stepping inside the cathedral was a familiar figure, one who the female gypsy bore a grudge against at the moment.

He wasn't at all like the other soldiers, she was right about that. He was the _worst_. He tricked her, _lied_ to her. He trapped her here, probably where she would rot to death. It was _his_ fault, wasn't it? It was ironic. Maybe she pissed someone off in the past life to deserve this, but who knows. The person sat down on the other side of the pew, a foot or two from Esmeralda, who was quietly crying. Djali opened his eyes for a moment, only to see a certain mug he didn't like. His owner's grip wasn't tight enough to keep him restrained, unfortunate for the person.

Djali leapt from his owner's lap and head-butted the person in the ribs. Esmeralda looked up as the goat left her, eyes widening when she saw who the person was. That person yelled out slightly as the goat rammed him in the side. "Your kid does_ not_ like me, does he?" he hissed out as he held his side. It was the gallant Captain Phoebus without his armor sitting in the pew to the gypsy's surprise…and _dismay_. Go figure.

She immediately jumped back, anger quickly flowing into her. "What are _you_ doing here?" she hissed at him as she backed away from him slowly. Phoebus stood up slowly, grunting slightly.

"We're all children of God, aren't we?" was his reply, and it only pissed her off more than she already was. The raven haired woman bit her lip, trying to hold back from pummeling him. Her fists tightened. "I came here to pray."

"Then sit somewhere else. There are plenty of other spots available." She waved her hand in a motion to show the captain all of the vacant seats in the church.

"Look, I know you're angry off at me-"

"Angry is an _under_statement."

Phoebus sighed and began to walk towards her. "Frollo was going to drag you out of here. It was the only way I could save you." His face didn't betray what he was saying. In fact, it had a small amount of anger in it as well as his brown eyes stared at her. What he said took her by surprise. Her eyes widened. He did it to _save_ her? …_Lies._ Esmeralda continued to back away from him as he slowly took his steps towards her.

"Why?" she asked, her face contorted once more with anger, but this time not so much. She stopped stepping backwards when she lightly bumped into a wooden pew. The captain also stopped. Both were in the middle aisle.

Phoebus smiled, chuckling lightly, careful of his new bruise. "You are an interesting woman, Esmeralda. I can't get to know you better if you're dead, now, can I?"

At this, the gypsy's eyes widened slightly. _He wanted to get to know her…_

Esmeralda cocked an eyebrow. "How am I interesting?" she asked, crossing her arms. The blonde soldier sighed and laughed a little, closing his eyes for a brief moment before opening them to look at the woman in front of him.

"You're the only woman I've seen that can hold her own against me, for example."

Her ruby lips lightly twitched at the compliment and slightly curled up into a small smile. "So, what were you praying for?" she asked, a little bit curious as to why he came to the church.

"I was praying for an angel." He answered and then bowed lightly before turning to leave. She was that shocked by his answer that she didn't even move right away until she registered that he was leaving.

"Wait." She spoke somewhat loudly as she lightly grabbed his arm. Phoebus froze in his tracks and turned lightly to see Esmeralda holding his arm. He said nothing, but looked at her curiously over his shoulder. She just stood there, holding his arm. And then he realized that for the first time, she was _insecure_ in front. He knew that she didn't want him to go, and he wished that he could stay, but he couldn't. More than likely, if he stayed any longer, _Frollo_ might find out. And then Esmeralda might… He couldn't risk it.

Looking down at the ground, Esmeralda didn't _exactly_ know how to voice her request. She wanted him to stay, but never in her _life_ had she had to say this to someone other than Clopin really. But now, she was feeling this sense of security from this almost complete stranger that seemed to show more than an interest to get to know her better, he seemed to actually _care_. She never had to deal with this before, to be honest. She felt his arm slip through her grip, and in that moment, she thought he was going to leave, but once again, Captain Phoebus surprised her.

Phoebus moved forward, slipping out of her grasp before turning around to face her. He grabbed her arm, which caused her to look up in alarm. The army captain pulled her flush against him, both of his arms circling around her back. He then leaned down and crashed his lips on top of hers. His eyes were closed, as opposed to her wide open emerald eyes. She couldn't help but relax a little. For some odd reason, she felt safe in his arms.

Slowly, her arms lightly crept up his back, her eyes finally closing and she turned into the kiss lightly. A few more seconds later, Phoebus pulled away. "I'll be back later." He whispered as he slowly pulled away from her. "I'll get you out of here, I promise." He took her hands and held them in his. Stunned by everything going on, she merely nodded. A little blush was still on her cheeks. The captain smiled at her and bowed one last time before he began to step back, letting her hands slip out of his before turning to leave. The gypsy watched him leave, her eyes wondering why he acted the way he did, and why it actually felt _good_ to her.

Her fingers went to her lips where she touched them lightly, still somewhat in a daze. Djali, who had watched the entire scene unveil before his eyes, looked up at his owner, as if wanting to say, "Don't _tell_ me you're falling for _that_ blockhead!" Such a shame that goats can't talk.

To her left, the gypsy woman noticed a statue out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at it. Slowly, she walked towards it…

* * *

**I still can't believe I'm addicted to these two... ._.;**

**I hope this was enjoyable in the least. This oneshot takes place after the Archdeacon leaves Esmeralda to her own devices and all but before Esme does her musical number :P**

**This is one thing I wished could have happened c: (and one of the reasons why he came back in the first place (To help her escape...))**

**This may have been a little OOC but these two are a lot like Kamina and Yoko from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, which I recommend c:**

**Please Review :D**

**~Sandy**


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